Java EE 5 vs Java EE 6

This post visualizes changes between Java EE Standards 5 and 6. The comparison of standards is listed in four sections Web-Services, Web-Container, Enterprise Application technologies and Maintenance. Hope this helps someone.

The new redesigned Java API for XML Web Services (JAX-WS) is the base or a middle part of a newly Java EE 6 Web service stack. The new stack includes JAX-WS 2.0, JAXB 2.0, and SAAJ 1.3. and is also called “integrated stack”. JAX-WS was designed to take place of JAX-RPC. Due this also JSR-109 was updated because it describes run time architecture of JEE Web Services Stack. JAXB which provides an easy way to bind an XML schema to java and vice verse, was updated to.

The SOAP with Attachments APIfor Java (SAAJ) (also known as Java APIs for XML Messaging (JAXM)) provides a standard way to send XML documents over the Internet from the Java platform and was updated slightly containing now other consolidated standard.

New are JAX-RS, which provides support for RESTful Web services and JAXR which enables pull-parsing API for reading and writing XML documents. Also available in Java SE.

In Java EE 6 we have updates of all technologies of the Web Container except JSTL. So e.g. Servlet 3.0 improves Servlet concept in pluggability and some ease of development. It’s also introduces Async Servlet, and long waited File Uploading!. Also now configuration can be done by annotations.

New a specification of Debugging Support for Other Languages 1.0
This describes standardized tools for correlating Java virtual machine byte code to source code of languages other than the Java programming language, so it would guarantee debugging possibility of everything what runs is JSR-45 certified container.

In Enterprise Application section we see some important changes and new specifications. Most famous and important is JSR-299 Context and Dependency Injection (CDI) which is there to unify the JavaServer Faces-managed bean component model with the Enterprise JavaBeans component model to simplify the programming model and architecture of web-based applications. Look an Weld Framework as reference implementation to this.

The similar sounding Standard Dependency Injection for Java JSR-330 just define a standard and common known DI like in spring and other frameworks. Look at popular Guice DI-Framework from Google which implements JSR-330.

There are also some interesting improvements in EJBs. Singleton is a new type and can be only one per container, it is also possible to use @Local Beans (Same VM) without interface. Also JPA 2.0 has advanced query possibilities and validation.

Nice, but why is JSR 45 listed as a new specification? This one hasn’t been changed since 2003. Also, “Managed Beans 1.0″ links to the overal Java EE 6 JSR.

Bhoodev Singh (Dave)

Excellent! Thank you so much for sharing the valuable information.

http://alexander.holbreich.org/ shuron

@Rodrige: thank you for a hint. Of cause it means JAX-RPC (Remote Procedure Call) and not Rich Client Platform

@henk: Of cause you right. Managed bean could be used anywhere, not only in Web container or only outside of it. They are some kind generalized specification of JSF Beans. Managed Beans are designed and specified and fit well for whole Java EE 6 Standard. It was my own idiosyncratic decision to put them didactical to Enterprise section. Hope it’s not so confusing. What do you think?

And as I thought JSR-45 was not a part of earlier Java EE/ J2EE Specs but is mentioned explicitly in Java EE 6